OLIVE OIL. 



397 



the Cape Colony, one of them from England, by Mr. Thomas Berry, 

 in the year 1821, and the other variety, I believe, from France, since 

 that period. The European olive may be propagated in various ways. 

 Cuttings of nine inches in length, taken from one year old shoots, may 

 be planted in a rich light soil, and kept moderately moist ; the ground 

 ought never to be allowed to become very dry ; these will root freely 

 in a few weeks, and be fit for transplanting in twelve months. In 

 Italy the propagation is conducted in the same manner in which it 

 was during the time of the Eomans. 



" An old tree is hewn down, and the ' ceppo ' or stock (that is, the 

 collar or neck between the root and the trunk, where in all plants 

 the principle of life more eminently resides), is cut into pieces of 

 nearly the size and shape of a mushroom, and which from that cir- 

 cumstance are called novoli; care at the same time is taken that a 

 small portion of bark shall belong to each novoli ; these, after having 

 been dipped in manure, are put into the earth, soon throw up shoots, 

 are transplanted at the end of one year, and in three years are fit to 

 form an olive yard."* Truncheons, or stakes of the olive, 2 inches 

 thick and 5 feet long, may be driven into the ground where they are 

 intended to remain, and root freely. Shoots of one or two years' 

 growth may be laid down, giving them a twist to crack the bark ; or 

 slit them half-way through, when they root very readily. These 

 operations should be performed in the month of August. 



In France and Italy uncertainty prevails in the crops of olives ; 

 sometimes one that yields a profit does not occur for six or eight years 

 together ; and hence it is considered that the culture is less beneficial 

 to the peasants of those countries than that of corn ; but these cir- 

 cumstances do not appear to apply to the southern colonies, especially 

 as the olive may be cultivated on ground which is impenetrable to the 

 plough or spade. 



France. — The olive is grown in 12 departments, all situated in 

 the south ; the departments where it is chiefly cultivated are : Var, 

 Vaucluse, Bouches du Ehone, Gaud, and Alpes Maritime?. The 

 extent of land occupied with this tree in 1871 was 129,143 hectares. 

 The production in fruit amounted to 2,402,610 hectolitres. Allowing 

 from this 15 per cent, for fruit eaten locally, there would remain 

 2,000,000 hectolitres converted into oil, which produced 260,000 cwts., 

 valued roughly at 36,920,000 frs. 



The olive tree is almost the only product of a large portion of the 

 mountainous district of Nice, and produces (where there is no possibility 

 of other produce requiring tillage and husbandry) a small return for 

 the labour bestowed on the trees and the manufacture of the oil. Each 

 small proprietor takes his olives as he gathers them to a mill in small 

 quantities, using it in common with his neighbours, and paying for 

 its use a percentage of Lis oil, and the refuse of his olives and the oil 

 is taken to market for sale in small quantities, according to the daily 

 produce. 



More than 15,000 acres are planted with this tree in Nice, pro- 

 ducing on an average 180,000 to 200,000 gallons of oil. The tree 

 grows well even at great elevations above the sea, and will stand 

 * Blunt's ' Vestiges,' &c, p. 216. 



